SFA celebrates an improbable win at Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Teams of the Week Awards, Week 4 (November 25-December 1, 2019)
Stephen F. Austin – 2019 was the first season that the Lumberjacks missed the postseason since 2012. Head Coach Kyle Keller, now in his fourth season, has made it clear that this program is held at a much higher standard following last season. SFA went out and hit the JUCO trail hard and brought in a set of instant impact guys like Roti Ware, Gavin Kensmil, and Cameron Johnson. Core players like Kevon Harris, John Comeaux, and Nathan Bain returned. The Lumberjacks got rolling early this season with some wins over inferior competition like LeTourneau, NC Central, Niagara, and Drexel – all at home. It was still tough to decipher how improved this team was. Then a trip to Rutgers exposed some weaknesses, in a 69-57 loss. That catches us up to last week. A week in which SFA was to travel to Duke and Arkansas State. SFA also took on Duke on a loaded Tuesday night in College Basketball. Several tournaments and teams were in action. So this game at Duke did not exactly come with much national attention. But perhaps that was a big mistake. SFA came into the game #1 in the nation in forced turnovers (25.8/game). The Lumberjacks pride themselves in wearing teams out with constant ball-pressure and tight defending. This factor combined with Duke’s youth gave us a formula for a possible major upset if SFA executed. And my goodness, did they execute. The game remained tight throughout to the point where most College Hoop fans had to ultimately switch to this game on their apps instead of watching highly anticipated tourney games. It was that good of a fight by SFA. Ultimately, this game got to overtime. With a breakaway layup at the overtime buzzer, Stephen F. Austin pulled off a shocker for the ages and did what no team outside the ACC had done in almost 20 years — take down mighty Duke at home. Stephen F. Austin stunned the Blue Devils 85-83 in overtime Tuesday night, with Nathan Bain’s coast-to-coast layup just before time expired bringing a jarring end to Duke’s 150-game home winning streak against nonconference opponents. The Jacks would follow this up with an underrated dominating win on the road against Arkansas State, 76-57. This Lumberjack squad cannot be taken lightly, they have a ton of confidence and force a ton of turnovers.
Michigan – Any other week and this is your team of the week without question. We had to give the nod to Stephen F. Austin due to the miraculous nature of their upset, but what Michigan accomplished this week was unprecedented in its own regard. Juwan Howard’s Wolverines entered the Battle for Atlantis tournament with limited expectations. The field was loaded with nationally recognized teams like North Carolina, Gonzaga, Seton Hall, and Oregon. All four of them were in the Top 15 coming into the tournament and left little room for much discussion on the rest of the field. Michigan got to work early by defeating Iowa State, 83-76. It was their first game away from home, where they had won four games prior to arriving in the Bahamas. Then Michigan was paired with North Carolina, a much stiffer test. After a really good fight in the first half, the Wolverines came out swinging in the second half going on a 21-4 run to open up a 60-38 lead. By now, they had everyone’s attention and Michigan cruised to a 73-64 statement win. In the Championship Game, there was another Top 10 opponent waiting for them in Gonzaga. Such an impressive amount of confidence was shown as Michigan jumped out to another early lead and took a 34-25 lead into halftime. The Wolverines continued the solid play into the second half and ultimately finished the job with a 82-68 Championship Game victory. It was almost too easy. Suddenly the Maze and Blue are in the drivers seat nationally with the best early season resume. There is a lot of basketball left, but this was an incredible statement that will help Michigan get into the tournament come March.
Florida State – If you saw the SFA piece above, you know that suffocating defenses are effective in College Basketball. The FSU Seminoles brought a similar mentality with them to Niceville, FL last week in a crucial four-team event with Tennessee, VCU, and Purdue. Heading into the event, I thought these four squads were all evenly matched and whoever emerged with two wins would really elevate themselves for the rest of the year. Well, that team was Florida State. Over two nights The Florida State defense continues to prove that it can win ball games even if the offense is making minimal baskets. They overwhelmed both Tennessee in the semifinals and Purdue at times in the Title game. The Noles now have a 7-game winning streak and a pretty solid early resume. And they get another opportunity this week at Indiana. The Seminoles are on the upswing.
George Mason – Heading into this year’s version of the Paradise Jam, there was not a clear-cut favorite. The tournament brought in a creative mix of teams. New Mexico State had injury concerns, ODU was untested, Washington State and Nebraska had already tripped up, and South Florida had injury problems as well. So who was going to come out of this thing 3-0?! The overlooked George Mason Patriots, of course! Much like Atlantis, a completely unexpected champion came to an island and won an 8-team event. The Patriots got off to a great start by winning a hard-fought battle against an old CAA rival, Old Dominion. Next up was Nebraska, and GMU played an excellent all-around game to thump the Cornhuskers, 85-66. Another uplifting story in this was the return of star player Justin Kier, coming back from injury. Kier didn’t play significant minutes but certainly brought an emotional spark to the games. GMU would then take on New Mexico State in the finals. NMSU had a clean bill of health and looked very strong their first two days, and were the favorite prior to tip-off. The Aggies built up a 12-point halftime lead. George Mason (8-1) erased the 12-point halftime deficit with an exceptional second half in which the Patriots limited the Aggies to 34.4 percent and shot a sizzling 55.6 percent (15-27) on the offensive end. GMU won the Paradise Jam and moved to 8-1 on the year for the first time since 1983-84. Now the Patriots take a ton of confidence with them going forward.
Oklahoma State – The Pokes were a team that many were high on coming into the 2019-20 campaign. I cannot claim to be one of them, but boy am I feeling guilty about that now. In Brooklyn’s Barclay’s Center, a pivotal four team event was held between Oklahoma State, Penn State, Syracuse, and Ole Miss. This is the annual NIT Season Tip-Off event that brings with it a ton of history. The Cowboys met the Orange in the semifinal. Oklahoma State shot nearly 50% from the field and were rarely challenged by the vaunted Syracuse zone. It was an impressive display. The Pokes also got it done defensively, only allowing 25% shooting by the Orange from behind the arc. That setup what we thought would be a showdown against Ole Miss. The game started close, but later the Cowboys busted the game wide open with an 18-1 run in the final eight minutes of the first half to take a commanding 34-15 halftime lead. OSU kept Ole Miss off the scoreboard for nearly eight minutes in the second half as the Rebels couldn’t make a shot, going 25.9 percent from the field in the game. I’m sensing a theme here, suffocating defense is working. And if your team does it well, we may end up writing about them soon. Congrats to Oklahoma State, one of the most intriguing teams in the country.
Strongly Considered
San Diego State – Pounded Creighton by 34, then beat Iowa by Double Digits. Continental Tires Invitational Champions.
Butler – Picked up two key wins over Mizzou and Stanford en route to a Hall of Fame Classic Title.
Maryland – Took care of business and won the Orlando Invitational. Wins over Temple, Harvard, and Marquette.
Yale – Beat Vermont convincingly. Also beat both Bucknell and Western Michigan on a neutral court.
Kansas – Survived to win the Maui Classic over Dayton in OT. Also beat Chaminade and BYU.
Honorable Mention
